


darling don't you ever grow up

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: another take on the roof scene? absolutely!, anyway, but percy falls asleep so we don't see anything, during TLO, remember Thalia goes out to see Annabeth after she gets stabbed??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23097790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: To you, everything's funny / You got nothing to regretI'd give all I have honey / If you could stay like that__She’d been so cute. A tiny whirlwind of chaos and blonde curls and a desperate need to love and be loved.She was nine years older now, but had the battered soul of someone who’d lived many lives before. Her cheeks were hallowed and pale, baby-fat and freckles outgrown.Thalia reached down and held Annabeth’s hand, squeezing slightly. She felt a light pressure back and Annabeth’s eyelids fluttered open.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Thalia Grace, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 14
Kudos: 163





	darling don't you ever grow up

_To you, everything's funny_ / _You got nothing to regret_

_I'd give all I have honey /_ _If you could stay like that_

The Hunters trudged up 5th towards the Plaza Hotel, where an Aphrodite kid they passed said they’d set up base. 

“Thalia!” An Athena kid called to her when they entered the lobby (Malcolm was maybe his name?). “Did you see her?” 

She frowned. “What?”

“Oh.” Malcolm blanched. “No one told you.”

“Tell me what? Who are you talking about?”

“Annabeth.”

Her veins turned to ice. “What happened to her?” 

“On the bridge,” He twisted his hands together. “She got stabbed.”

Thalia swore her heart stopped. All she could hear was the rushing of blood in her ear. “Where is she?”

“Penthouse terrace.”

She noted mutely and pushed through the crowd, all but running to the elevators. 

_Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth_ pounded over and over in her head as the elevator rose.

The doors opened on madness. Campers were strewn across sofas, sleeping, nursing injuries. It wasn’t a pretty scene. In the far corner were Grover and Percy. In the few hours since she’d seen him, Percy looked like he’d aged five years. His eyebrows were pinched together, worry lines creasing his forehead and he was covered in dirt and golden dust. There were flecks of blood on his clothes. _Was it Annabeth’s?_ She felt a wave of nausea. 

Percy made eye contact with her and gestured to the glass doors behind him which led to what she assumed was the terrace. She nodded grimly and went outside.

Annabeth lay on a lawn chair covered in blankets but still shaking. She was far too pale, but altogether looked much better than Thalia had expected. Then again, she couldn’t see the wound under the mass of bandages. In sleep, Annabeth’s face was softer than it ever was when she was awake. Her hair was loose, curls fanned out around her. She was beautiful. And too old. 

“Hey, kid,” Thalia whispered, her fingers ghosting over her friend’s face. If she tried, she could remember being in a similar position nearly a decade ago.

~

 _What the hell had they been thinking?_ Twelve-year-old Thalia had thought, looking down at the sleeping child. She and Luke were just kids themselves — in no way capable of taking care of a child. _Luke had been too soft, taking one look at those big grey eyes and promising her protection. You could never really protect anyone._ Thalia had learned that the hard way, the thought of Jason still sending a pang to her chest. She’d looked down at the little girl, long tangled curls billowed around the ground. She looked even younger in sleep, somehow. The seriousness was gone from her face, making the baby fat that remained more prominent. 

“Thalia,” She’d jumped. Luke had sat up across the campfire. “I’ll take watch now, go to sleep.”

She’d nodded her thanks, dragged her backpack closer to use as a pillow, and laid down next to Annabeth. Annabeth’s face had twisted, probably sensing the nearby movement in her sleep. 

“Shh,” Thalia had whispered.

Annabeth relaxed and shifted closer to Thalia. The panic at being so close to this random child was replaced with a weird feeling in her chest when Annabeth pressed her forehead against Thalia’s shoulder. _She was pretty cute._

Jason would probably be about this age now, she had thought suddenly. Annabeth _wasn’t_ Jason (she couldn’t imagine him plowing through the night streets with a hammer, no matter how young he’d been since she’d last seen him). No, they were different people, Thalia knew that. Still, maybe this was like a second chance. She couldn’t protect her brother, but maybe she could protect Annabeth. 

Hesitantly, Thalia had raised a hand an brushed a stray curl from Annabeth’s face, letting her hand linger in the kid’s hair for a second longer than she needed too. Annabeth had nestled closer and sighed contentedly. Thalia somehow doubted that when she was completely awake and conscious she’d be this affectionate. That was okay. Thalia wasn’t a touchy-feely person anyway. 

~

Remembering that promise to protect her made Thalia feel sick all over again. Both she and Luke had failed Annabeth, abandoning her in favor of their own selfish agendas. Thalia knew that her escaping the prophecy was not nearly as drastic as Luke’s turn, and before that she hadn’t exactly chosen to become a tree for six years. Still, she couldn’t shake that feeling of failure. Annabeth had had to grow up far too quickly. All demigods did, but Annabeth had been doing this since she was _seven_. 

~

She remembered another time on the run after a particularly exhausting day. There’d been monsters, Annabeth had fallen and gotten a nasty bruise on her knee and Luke and Thalia had taken turns giving her piggy-back rides. They were somewhere far south now and had made camp in a little thicket. Luke had sat in front of the entrance, staring straight ahead to the forest around them. Annabeth had sat a few feet away, weaving twigs and moss together to assemble whatever contraption she’d planned to save the world with today. Thalia hat ripped up a piece of cold moss and tossed it between her hands. Smirking, she’d wordlessly held it out to Annabeth, jerking her head towards Luke. Annabeth’s eyes lit up and she giggled. 

Thalia had shushed her and the kid clapped a hand over her mouth, nodding earnestly. She tiptoed over, grabbed the moss, and darted over towards Luke. She stuffed the moss down the back of his shirt, shrieking with laughter as he jumped up in shock. Annabeth squirmed, still laughing, when Luke grabbed her and flipped her upside-down over his shoulder. 

“Thalia gave it to me! Thalia gave it to me!” She’d yelped.

“ _Annabeth!_ ” Thalia had protested, laughing as Luke set Annabeth down and ripped up a clump of dirt to fling at Thalia. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Annabeth had giggled. 

Thalia had tucked her arm around Annabeth’s shoulders and noggied her head.

Annabeth had yelped in protest and pulled away. 

“Oh no, Annabeth there's bugs in your hair!” Luke called. 

“Stooop!” The seven-year-old threw her arms protectively over her blonde rats nest, sticking her tongue out at him.

“There _are_!” Luke had said and Annabeth had spun towards Thalia, eyes blown and anxious.

“No, there’s not.” Thalia assured her, fighting back a laugh. 

Annabeth puffed out her chest. “I _knew_ that.”

“I do wish you’d let me brush it sometimes though.” Thalia wrinkled her nose.

“Never!” Annabeth yelped. She made a ‘watching you’ motion with her fingers and flounced back to her pile of twigs. 

~

She’d been so cute. A tiny whirlwind of chaos and blonde curls and a desperate need to love and be loved. 

She was nine years older now, but had the battered soul of someone who’d lived many lives before. Her cheeks were hallowed and pale, baby-fat and freckles outgrown. 

Thalia reached down and held Annabeth’s hand, squeezing slightly. She felt a light pressure back and Annabeth’s eyelids fluttered open.

“Hey, hero,” Thalia teased gently.

The corners of Annabeth’s mouth tweaked. “Hey,”

“How do you feel?”

“Like I could lift a car.”

“That’s my girl.”

Annabeth smiled weakly, lacing her fingers through Thalia. 

“I’m fine. The nectar helped.”

“Good.” Thalia nodded. “Do you need anything?”

Annabeth shook her head. “I’m fine. I can get back out there.”

“Not a _chance_.”

Annabeth scowled. “I’m fine.”

“Annabeth, you were stabbed.”

“I’ve been hurt before. I’ll be fine.”

“Uh huh. You’ll be fine. And you’re staying here until you _are_ fine.”

Annabeth huffed and pressed her head back against the chair, pouting a little.

“You know,” Thalia smirked. “Jackson’s pacing a trench in the carpet out there.”

Annabeth’s cheeks tinged. “Did they tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“The knife. It was meant for him.”

Thalia stared at her. “Oh. Oh, _Annabeth_ ,” She reached out her other hand and tucked a curl behind her ear. “You _idiot_.”

“I’m not sorry.” She whispered. 

“I know.” Thalia pursed her lips.

“Are you mad?” Annabeth blinked up at her in that same owlish way she’d done when she was half her size.   
  
“No.” Thalia shook her head firmly. “Not at all.” She looked back at the double doors. “He’d do the same for you.”

Annabeth smiled a little. “I know.” 

“Are you...”

“No.” Annabeth dropped her eyes to the blankets.

“Good.” Thalia said and Annabeth’s gaze shot back up to her. “Because no boys until you’re thirty. Big sister rule.”

Annabeth laughed. “I love you.”

Thalia scotched closer, hugging Annabeth’s good side. “I love you more, kid.”

**Author's Note:**

> lets be friends on Tumblr! @teasockschocolate


End file.
